A federal court in the United States has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to search for and disclose records relating to past criminal investigations involving Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president. The ruling was first disclosed via his X account on Sunday by David Hundeyin, a Nigerian independent journalist who is one of the claimants in the case, The judgment, delivered by Beryl A. Howell of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, blocks both agencies from continuing to use a legal loophole known as the “Glomar response” to avoid confirming or denying such records exist. The ruling follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by technology entrepreneur Aaron Greenspan and Hundeyin. They had requested access to documents concerning investigations involving Tinubu, but the FBI and DEA refused to comply, citing privacy protections under FOIA.
Howell, however, found that these privacy claims no longer hold, due to a public acknowledgement made by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in a 1993 forfeiture case. Central to her ruling was an affidavit by DOJ official Kevin Moss which confirmed that Tinubu’s US bank accounts — holding over $1.4 million — were under investigation for suspected heroin trafficking connections and money laundering activities. The affidavit explicitly named the FBI, DEA and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as agencies involved in the probe. According to the court, the use of that affidavit by the DOJ in its legal filings amounts to an official confirmation that Tinubu was indeed under investigation.
As such, the judge held that the FBI and DEA can no longer invoke FOIA’s privacy exemptions to withhold related records. “The information in the affidavit constitutes an official acknowledgment that Tinubu was one subject of a criminal investigation performed by, among other law enforcement agencies, the FBI and DEA,” the court stated. While FOIA’s Exemption 7(C) typically protects individuals from unwarranted invasions of privacy in law enforcement records, Howell ruled that this interest had already been overridden by the government’s previous disclosures.
She criticised the FBI and DEA for attempting to ignore this and failing to acknowledge the public nature of the investigation. Quoting the US Supreme Court, Judge Howell wrote: “The only valid public interest is one that focuses on the citizens’ right to be informed about what their government is up to.”
However, the court did uphold the Glomar response issued by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), agreeing that the CIA had provided sufficient legal justification to continue withholding any related records. As a result, the CIA will not be required to search for or release any Tinubu-related documents. The court has directed all parties to file a joint status report by May 2 to clarify any remaining issues in the case. Tinubu’s past has been under scrutiny for decades, particularly long-standing accusations tying him to narcotics proceeds and suspicious financial activities during the early 1990s. Though the accusations are not new, the court’s affirmation that Tinubu was, in fact, investigated by both the FBI and DEA could reignite public debate in Nigeria and beyond.
In 2022, FIJ reported how court documents released by the United States District Court showed that Tinubu, then a presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, was culpable in drug trafficking and money laundering charges instituted against him in 1993. Tinubu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to these investigations. Still, the potential release of records previously withheld by US authorities may unearth new information about his financial dealings.
